


The Luck of a Dog

by ObnoxiousBlue



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-15 17:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5793541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObnoxiousBlue/pseuds/ObnoxiousBlue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That story of the dog that naps at that other person's house, except it's Natasha Romanoff's house and Clint Barton's dog.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was peaceful in the neighborhood where Natasha Romanoff did her daily workout sets in the backyard. She hated how exposed she was to the outside world, but since her basement had flooded there wasn’t room for her mats anywhere else. So for the past couple of days Natasha had simply dealt with it. Her career as an assassin-turned-spy may have been short-lived, but that was no reason to be out of shape. She left the ‘in case of an attack’ out of her reasoning though, as it tended to make her government-assigned therapist sigh disappointedly. The disappointment she could handle, the call through to Coulson she could not.

Natasha, even after almost five years of retirement, considered herself to be quite vigilant regarding anyone approaching her vicinity. Apparently she was wrong, as she felt the touch of something solid on her leg mid-push-up. She launched herself up and back, spinning to settle into a defensive position, ready to take out the threat. Standing there was a dog, tongue out and looking quite calm. She scanned the yard for any possible owner or companion, but saw no other life forms. The dog had moved closer in front of her, she eyed it skeptically but stuck her hand out anyway. The dog licked her fingers and she scratched its head. This wasn’t so bad. Its collar yielded no information as to an owner or address, and the dog didn’t seem inclined to be leaving any time soon, so she shrugged and headed inside.

The dog followed her into the house, tail wagging slightly, and it occurred to her that the dog was probably somewhat elderly. The dog - male, she could see from this angle - slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. Natasha fixed herself some tea.

The next day the dog was back. She scratched him around the ears and let him into the house before resuming her workout. Absently, she considered the chances of him being a spy dog, but quickly dismissed it; those were long out of fashion.

On the third day she put a folded up blanket in the dogs corner and left the door open before starting her workout. Natasha was disheartened when the afternoon passed without a single golden hair to be seen. She tamped that feeling down; she’d only met the damn thing twice and already she was considering him a friend.

The next day he was back and she gave him a very rigorous ear-scratching.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Natasha thought to be curious about the dogs origins, so stopped him on his way out and scribbled a note to pin to his collar: ‘I would like the owner of this dog to be aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house to take a nap. I would like to who you are and possibly the reason for this.’ There. That was polite enough. She pinned it on with a safety pin and sent the dog on his way.

The next day the dog arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: ‘Lucky (the dog) lives in a house with 5 children, 3 under the age of 4 - he’s trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?’ She finally had a name for the dog, and a reason for his presence, but was she curious enough to actually meet his owner? She mulled it over and came to a conclusion. Natasha pinned the simple response to Lucky’s collar, mostly positive she made the right decision: ‘Yes.’


	2. Chapter 2

The next day was a Saturday, and by the time the afternoon rolled around, Natasha was feeling quite anxious. She waited by her back door and mentally went over the weapons she had hidden around her house that morning. A dog was one thing to trust in her home, but betrayal came in many different forms within people.

Soon enough she saw her beloved regular customer emerge from his usual hole in the fence, but this time he hesitated in the middle of the lawn, no doubt waiting for the same thing she was. The first thing she saw of the mysterious dog's owner was two strong arms reaching over the fence to hoist an equally strong body over. The had sandy blond hair and seemed confident and assured of himself as he lifted his legs over, overbalanced, and fell face-first on the ground. 

Natasha might have let herself laugh if it weren’t for being completely frozen. The man was Hawkeye, ex-Avenger and the man who had saved her from a life of mindless killing. He groaned from the ground and was hindered from getting up by Lucky’s enthusiastic attempt to ‘help’ be licking him in the face. Natasha breathed and let herself smirk a little as the man got up. 

“Agent Barton.” She stated in greeting.

His head whipped around and he fixed his eyes on her. 

“Romanoff?” 

It was said like a question. Natasha only smiled a little bit more.

He fumbled to fill in the silence. “Coulson told me you quit SHIELD. Uh, I guess it didn’t really occur to me that you might have… retired in general.” He gave up and flapped his hands by his sides. 

Lucky, ignored and bored of standing around, headed inside. Barton cleared his throat, shrugged, and followed. Natasha frowned a little when he walked past her through the door, but followed him after a few moments. She found them both in the hallway, Lucky already asleep and Barton shifting the blanket around to form a pillow. Natasha raised her eyebrows when he too closed his eyes and went to sleep, then decided to leave them be. 

Two hours later Natasha crouched down beside Barton and studied him.The way he was now, he seemed less like a fierce soldier and more like the father of five that he was. She reached out and gently shook his shoulder to wake him.

“Barton.” She said. “Don’t you have kids to look after?”

“Nah.” He replied with a surprising amount of clarity. “Wanda’s home, she’ll look after ‘em.”

“The dog’s gone.” 

“Yay.”

Natasha smiled at that and then bit back a laugh as Barton pulled himself over until he was on top of the blanket then curled himself into a ball. Natasha shook her head then stood up and walked into the kitchen.

“You want some coffee?” She called down the hall. She heard a muffled affirmative then switched the machine on. Ten minutes later Barton drank his coffee and left, leaving through the back door with a grin and wave. She sipped her tea and smiled to herself. Maybe having friends wouldn’t be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know how to space paragraphs.


	3. Chapter 3

Although they didn’t exactly schedule anything, Natasha found herself waiting in anticipation for Barton’s next visit, if there was one. Through the week Lucky came and went but it wasn’t until the next Saturday that Barton showed up again. At least he landed on his feet this time, although…

“Barton, why are you covered in mud?”

Barton looked down at himself, but didn’t seem surprised. “Lila had a soccer game this morning.”

“And what, they needed another player?” She joked.

“Referee actually.” He made his way across the lawn but Natasha stopped him before he went through the door.

“No.” She said, shaking her head. She pointed to one of the chairs on the small patio. He sat down with a huff and she headed into the kitchen. She caught him mutter ‘I bet you let Lucky inside when he’s covered in mud.” Natasha turned the coffee machine on. 

She called out, “Lucky is adorable and quiet. You are neither.”

Barton still looked sore over it when she brought out coffee and a towel. He drank his coffee and wiped a good portion of the mud off with the towel. He seemed to be either sulking or trying to prove how quiet he could be. Natasha finally took the towel from him.

“Okay.” Was all she said. He grinned and went inside to sleep with Lucky.

When he woke up he met her in the kitchen.

“Thanks,” he said, “for the coffee. And sorry for the mud.”

“It’s alright.” Natasha said. “I gather you lead an exciting life.”

“Oh yeah, you have no idea. Soccer practice, PTA meetings, toddler tantrums, Spongebob marathons…” He trailed off with a grin. Natasha smiled back.

“Yeah, so… Saturday afternoon’s sort of the only time I have free.” he continued. “And if I nap at home then I get disturbed every five minutes. So if you don’t mind it I’d like to… you know…” He seemed a bit lost.

“Nap at my house every week?” She filled in for him.

“Yeah, that.” 

“I wouldn’t mind it.” His grin was back as he said goodbye and left.

___________________

 

The next week followed uneventfully, and on Saturday Barton was back, sitting opposite Natasha at the dining room table and drinking coffee. She studied him, he looked over at her.

“So,” he began.

She was tempted to let him pry, to talk to another human being who wasn’t paid to listen, but instead.

“No.” She said simply.

He smiled at that. “Okay then.” He didn’t offer anything else.

They both finished their drinks but neither of them moved for a while. It would be hypocritical of her to ask, but, well, curiosity and cats and all that.

“So,” she echoed his earlier half-inquiry, “your kids?”

Barton’s smile returned, and he raised his eyebrows at her. He started talking.

“Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel are mine and my late wife’s. Billy and Tommy are twins. They’re my godchildren actually, and I look after them because their parents are, you know, in the superhero business.” He paused, and she could see in his face pride, but also a lot of sadness.

“I’m sorry about your wife.” She couldn't think of much else to say.

“It’s okay. I mean, she died saving the world.” He looked down at his hands. “It’s a risk we all take… well, took.”

“Who was she?”

“They called her Mockingbird.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is corner of shame and i am sitting in it

**Author's Note:**

> if you want the source for the original post/story i'm sure i can find it but its one of those things that just kinda floats around so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ . i am planning to make this story pretty big so buckle up i suppose.


End file.
